Tuesday, November 21, 2006

""This is the face of the man that heads one of the most feared groups in Iraq, the Badr Organisation.Iran Focus has learnt from reliable sources that one of Iraq’s most notorious armed-militia leaders is working in close connection with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.Hadi Farhan Abdullah al-Ameri (alias Abu Hassan al-Ameri) ..In 1988, after the ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war, al-Ameri was appointed as an intelligence officer in SCIRI’s military wing, the Badr Brigade, and quickly rose through the ranks to become the group’s operational commander, working closely with the high command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).In 2002, Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim appointed him Commander of the Badr Brigade, later named Badr Organisation.Since then, al-Ameri has been in close contact with high-ranking officers of the IRGC Qods Force, including the elite force’s commander Qassem Soleimani. The Qods Force is tasked with exporting Iran’s Islamic revolution to “Jerusalem, via Baghdad”. Iran Focus has learnt that the Badr Organisation chief has been receiving a regular salary from the Qods Force through Sepah Bank, which is run exclusively by the IRGC. ...He currently has a seat in Iraq’s National Assembly and heads the assembly’s Defence and Security Committee. The Iraqi Interior Ministry is widely believed to be under the control of the Badr Organisation and its political face SCIRI."Iraq’s feared Shiite militia chief, Novemebr 15, 2006."The Badr Brigade who were accused this week of jailing and torturing their Iraqi opponents, along with their political front Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), are financed and run by neighbouring Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), according to a report on an Arab-language website, which said it had uncovered documentary evidence of financial ties between Tehran and the dangerous militia. Iran pays the Badr Brigade, recently renamed to Badr Organisation, a monthly salary of approximately three million dollars, the Jordanian website al-Malaf Net reported."Iran is behind the Badr Brigade in Iraq, November 17, 2006."An Iranian-backed militia group which has penetrated key positions in the Iraqi Interior Ministry has been ordered to assassinate Iraqi Sunni Muslim activists, Iraqi media reported.Iran had prepared to launch a large intelligence operation aimed at eliminating secular and Sunni activists in Iraq, the al-Molf Net website wrote, adding that armed groups with ties to Tehran have been ordered to “assassinate the more influential and active Sunni Arab activists in Iraq”. A "central body" responsible for the assassinations has been set up in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, the report said. The body is run by a committee of several pro-Iranian Badr Brigade commanders including Hadi Al-Ameri, Abu-Montazer Al-Husseini, Abu-Zolfaqar Hassan, Abu-Hosham Ahmadi, Haj Abu-Nour, and Ahmad Al-Jaberi, as well as a representative from the elite Qods Force, responsible for extra-territorial activities of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)."Iran planning Sunni assassinations in Iraq, October 19, 2005 "